Re: Preparing for Civil Unrest in America

While I really hope people make a stand I’m not sure that it will happen – at least not in the numbers and resolve that would make a difference. Here are five cynical reasons "Why American’s Won’t Resist" from the Information Clearing House:

1. We are trained to believe that nothing
major is wrong. Global warming? Economic meltdown? Epidemics of
preventable diseases? Slavery, genocide, ecocide? You name it and we’re
ready to downplay it. We’re Americans, dammit, we’ll figure out a
way to fix it. When the going gets tough, we’ll call the experts.

2. We are trained to leave it to experts. Rather than worry our little
heads over why more than 100 plant and animal species go extinct each
day, we rely on experts. Instead of learning what a
"collateralized-debt obligation" is and how it contributed to the
current economic depression, just let the professionals handle the
mess. Besides, such delegation frees up much more time to watch TV and
update our Facebook pages.

3. We are trained to embrace non-violence. All the real heroes would
never raise a fist in anger: Jesus, MLK, Gandhi, Mother Teresa, etc.
Sure, the government and its corporate owners are taking away all our
rights and all our money. They’re poisoning our air, water, and food
while crafting laws that make prison a looming possibility, but the
moment we contemplate anything more than a non-violent response, we
become worse than any of them. Ain’t that right?

4. We feel too damn privileged to risk prison (or worse). The average
Gaza resident doesn’t have the luxury of wondering if their resistance
could result in arrest and thus perhaps ruin their reputation. The
average American? Well, that’s a different story. I can’t defy insane
laws designed to squash protest. I might get arrested and that means
close proximity to all those scary criminals and it also means hurting
my chances of landing a good job and maybe even losing all my
respectable friends. I mean, I’m an activist and all but that’s asking
way too much. Who do you think I am, Mandela?

5. We’re f*.*’ cowards. Our acquiescence in a disturbingly broad
range of areas—access to health care, tolerance for voting
irregularities, directly funding the Israeli war machine, stomaching
the groupthink behind saluting a flag, etc. etc. etc.—appears to have
no limits. Americans love to talk the talk about being fearless and
tough but when ordered to remove our shoes before going through airport
security, it’s “yes sir” all the way.

We know things have passed the proverbial tipping point and that
immediate action is 100% needed and justified, but we’re far too
spineless to do anything that might get us in trouble. Somehow, it’s
more terrifying for any of us to face down a cop than it is to
contemplate the total destruction of our earthly eco-system.